Tony Bennett: Familiar, yet fresh

At 81, an age when most vocalists have long since retired (or should have), Tony Bennett charges forth, as if time stood still and musical fashions never changed.

For him, of course, they haven't, the singer remaining ever faithful to the jazz-tinged, classic American pop songs that always have been at the heart of his repertory. His fidelity to this music -- as well as his acuity in interpreting it -- help explain why his audience has stayed with him through the decades.

How many other artists of his vintage, after all, could sell out the pavilion and fill practically every square inch of the lawn at Ravinia, in Highland Park, as Bennett did Friday night?

Though Bennett has been playing an annual Ravinia date for more than two decades, the show sounded freshly appealing, even if its repertoire was thoroughly familiar to Bennett devotees. But this time the singer was joined by a terrific new pianist, Bruce Barth, and, more important, gave listeners alternative interpretations of material long in his songbook.

Anyone who thought they knew exactly where Bennett placed rhythmic accents in "The Best Is Yet to Come," for instance, would have been surprised by the ferocious syncopation he brought to the tune (though he and the band initially disagreed on exactly where the downbeats were). In a radical "Fly Me to the Moon," Bennett took the piece so slowly as to suspend any sense of rhythmic pulse.

Some listeners may object to the grainy, craggy quality of Bennett's voice. In truth, his instrument never was silken and, today, it simply conveys more character than ever.

But there's real virtuosity at work here too. In "I Got Rhythm," Bennett's tempo was so fast and his sense of swing so assured as to reaffirm his credentials as a bona fide jazz singer who happens to have enjoyed broad pop success.

The evening's climax came with "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," among the best contemporary ballads in Bennett's repertoire, dispatched first with intimacy, then with an operatic flourish.

At this rate, Bennett could go on singing for years, a point that will be reiterated in the PBS special "Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends" (airing on WTTW-Ch. 11 at 9 p.m. on Sept. 12).